HARDY BAMBOOS 



THANKS to Lord Redesdale (author of "The Bam- 

 boo Garden "), and a few other gardening enthusiasts, 

 the Bamboo has been made a beautiful feature 

 of many English gardens. Although a graceful 

 shrubby grass of quite tropical aspect, the majority 

 of species and their varieties are thoroughly hardy, 

 so much so that they have passed safely through 

 the severest winters of the past twenty years.- 

 Bamboos and hybrid Water Lilies are responsible 

 for much of the interest taken in good English 

 gardening at the present time. Their introduction 

 has marked a distinct era, and their popularity 

 is widespread, while in the near future we shall 

 regard the Bamboo much as we do the most common 

 of shrubs now planted. B. Metake is, of course, an 

 old favourite, and it is surprising that this stately 

 species did not before remind English gardeners of 

 the great possibilities of the Bamboos in the adorn- 

 ment of the pleasure-ground. As Mr. Bean says : 

 " Fifteen or twenty years ago many of the best of 

 the sorts now largely grown were unknown in this 

 country ; but apart from their novelty they have other 

 qualities. No evergreens capable of withstanding 

 our winters exceed these shrubby grasses in beauty 



and grace, in luxuriance of leafage, or in their bright, 



203 



